Towne Club Lemonade

I opened this the other day with my boys:

Brand: Towne Club Lemonade

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It was just slightly carbonated, and it was good. It wasn't too sweet - almost a little tart. That made my wife and I like it quite a bit, but my boys say they wished it was sweeter. So it was an "adult" lemonade. Pretty good!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Grand Teton Brewing "Old Faithful" Root Beer

Some "internet friends" recently had a tasty root beer, and they thought of me! (I'm honored!) So they tracked down another can (which wasn't easy - they had it in Yellowstone and then had to find another can for me later at an ice cream shop) and spent $10 to mail a can first class to me. Thanks Brandon and Theresa!

They mailed it a few weeks ago when we were out of town. I got it and put it in the fridge right away, and I was saving it for a special occasion. Yesterday, I spent some time outside working on the foundation of our house, and then my boys and I ate supper outside because it was so beautiful. PERFECT time to crack out a good root beer.

In the backyard.

The boys getting a few ounces of my root beer after supper in the backyard.

Brand: Grand Teton Brewing "Old Faithful" Root Beer.

Origin: Victor, ID.

Purchase Place: Genuine Ice Cream Co, Bozeman, MT.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was very creamy. But more importantly, it was VERY "herby." If you like a "rooty" and herb-filled root beer, then try this. It might be the most herby I've ever had. But it wasn't overpowering. And then there was a fruity sweetness at the end. Theresa noted that it had a good head, but mine was a bit flatter (could have been from being in the mail for a few days?), but it wasn't a problem. Unique and tasty!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Flavors of Soda

Lift Bridge Black Cherry Soda

We grabbed this from Lund's in Minneapolis last night:

Brand: Lift Bridge Black Cherry Soda

Origin: Stillwater, MN.

Purchase Place: Lund's, Minneapolis, MN (St. Anthony Main area).

Sweetener: Natural Sugar.

Review: I've generally enjoyed Lift Bridge sodas in their extra large cans (and I like that they are made just outside of the Twin Cities here in MN), so I was excited to try this. And it lived up to my expectations. I had to re-look at the label 2 times to make sure it didn't say "Black Cherry CREAM" because it had a very creamy flavor. Trying to remove the "creamy" flavor from my mind while tasting, the black cherry is pretty average, but that's not a bad thing. It's a tasty, creamy black cherry soda.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Barq's Frozen Root Beer and Vanilla Ice Cream Float

So I just found out that THIS exists this summer:

I need to find these. Although, there are 24 in there, and I *could* go a bit overboard and have... I dunno... like 24 of these at a time. So I'll need to watch myself.

Right now, I can only find them on Instacart.

IBC Root Beer

The boys and I cracked into this yesterday:

Brand: IBC Root Beer.

Origin: Plano, TX.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This is a root beer that I've had a dozen times. It's maybe the first "glass bottle" root beer I remember having as a kid - my Mom would buy a 4-pack during the summer as a treat after hot July hay baling. This had a real deep flavor. It had a nice balance of "smooth" and "bite." The sweetness had a slightly off taste at the end of each sip, but that was the only (minor) issue. It went down easy and was quite tasty!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Ingredients in Coca Cola

An opinion that many of us could get behind...

Cherry Vanilla Blue Sky Soda

I stopped by Mississippi Market on West 7th in St. Paul because we were driving by and I needed 1 thing for tacos later that day (a can of black beans), and this caught my eye:

Brand: Cherry Vanilla Blue Sky Soda.

Origin: Tustin, CA.

Purchase Place: Mississippi Market, St. Paul, MN. (The one on West 7th.)

Sweetener: Invert Cane Sugar.

Review: I'm always in for a surprise when I try a "hippie" soda - I never know what to expect. This one was quite good though! The vanilla was nice and sweet and smooth, and the cherry was good too. It didn't have the depth of a "cola" (and wasn't labeled as such), but it didn't skimp on flavor and went down well. Quite good!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.